Despite the pandemic over these last 2 years, numerous initiatives have been launched across the world by the Carmeuse Foundation.
Here are some examples of the involvement of our colleagues in their local communities in 2021:
Bosnia: purchase of equipment for a technical school in Doboj (Electro and Transportation) in which they perform the practical classes and training for children.
Serbia: field trip to Zlakuse organized for children with disabilities in presence of our colleagues from Jelen Do to enjoy a great day together and learn pottery making.
Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania): partnership with Urban Impact (they provide afterschool activities, mentoring, basketball clinics, arts and educational programs to children who come from disadvantaged backgrounds to keep them off the streets and out of trouble). Urban Impact was donated an abandoned church for expansion purposes. 10 of our employees donated some of their free time to clean up, paint, help refurbish the donated church, so that Urban Impact could more quickly settle into the donated property. In addition to this, we provided financial support every year to help them better serve these children in need.
Cedarville (Michigan): The Cedarville, Port Inland and Drummond Island facilities support Bay Cliff Health Camp, which is helping children with physical disabilities throughout the Eastern Upper Peninsula of Michigan. They provide physical, occupational and speech therapy, medical treatment, clothing and so much more to the children that attend summer camp. Their goal is to teach children with disabilities how to be self-sufficient, productive citizens in society. Every year employees from these three sites travel to Bay Cliff and spend three days in a work bee. During the work bee, employees assist the camp with building repairs and maintenance. The volunteers have breakfast and lunch with the campers and their counselors, thus enhancing the experience and creating forever memories. It is common for the volunteers to search for returning campers to see their progress/development. Some children leave this camp walking on their own, dressing themselves for the first time, experiencing their first “job” or participating in their first dance. It’s really a remarkable experience for all involved.
Zambia: financial support for building 2 houses to accommodate 2 teachers at an elementary school of 532 students.
Doradal (Columbia): there is a kindergarten school located on the property of our Procecal plant, called Santiguitos School. It serves 28 children of the local community that are in desperate need of support, a few of the children attending the school together with the children of our colleagues at the Procecal plant. The school “Santiguitos” was in deteriorating condition and was in need of rebuilding the roof, an addition of upgraded bathrooms and structural enhancements to make the school safe. We held a fundraiser at our Americas Corporate office in Pittsburgh asking employees to donate to help with the remodeling of the kindergarten. Our colleagues responded in kind, and we raised almost $4,000 to donate to Santiguitos. As a result, they were able to rebuild the school to make it structurally sound and also had additional money to buy more school and educational materials for the children.
Belgium: 2 associations have been supported for a 3-year period with a very positive input thanks the Foundation support: L'Ecole Aurore welcoming young people in search of a sense and the University project “Parler” which deployed practice of fundamental reading skills for students in need of developing these skills.
Another project involved internally refurbishing old PCs for hospitalized children, which allowed them to follow their courses remotely and keep in touch with their friends.
Turkey: because Covid continued effectiveness in 2021, schools were closed till Q4 in Turkey. Our colleagues in Turkey have offered support in preparing the new education term through collaboration with Plants’ disinfecting company (free of charge) to disinfect schools. Our solution partner on H&S in Turkey provided free trainings to increase awareness among students, on how to protect from Covid and importance of hygiene.To keep constant communication H&S awareness notifications were created by Carmeuse to run on info boards, for which smart screens were provided. Also, we contributed to strengthening the school infrastructure by solving issues with the heating system of the school.
Given the enthusiasm of the employees and the success of the initiatives, Carmeuse Foundation will continue to contribute to making the world better for children in need.
In addition to the ongoing and future projects and collaborations of the Foundation, we will also partner with Junior Achievement for a new global initiative. JA is a global organization having the same mission as our Foundation, present in the same countries where we operate, so that we could have a bigger global impact. Details on this new partnership are available here: Partnership between Carmeuse and Junior Achievement.
Stay tuned to our communication channels to find out more about Carmeuse Foundation initiatives!
